Stop Killing Games crosses its goal of 1 million signatures, what's next for the movement?

Stop Killing Games, the movement started by Ross Scott to ensure online games are preserved indefinitely, has finally reached one million signatures. Regardless of opposition by content creators like PirateSoftware, the petition has surpassed this major milestone across the United Kingdom and the European Union, with one million individuals showing their support.

Unfortunately, as this is only for the European Union, Americans could not take part in this initiative. However, it’s one that affects gamers worldwide. It could see real change take place once online games have reached their end. The very anti-consumer practice of taking games down forever could end in the EU, and perhaps elsewhere.

Let’s talk about Stop Killing Games' initiative now that it's hit one million signatures.

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What’s next for the Stop Killing Games movement now that it’s hit 1 million signatures?

Now that the Stop Killing Games movement’s petition has reached one million signatures, the next step is to submit it to the European Commission, with the goal of passing a law. While reaching this number is incredibly important, that’s not really the end of the road.

In the past, other petitions had been submitted to the European Commission. Despite having at least one million signatures, some of them were determined to be fake or otherwise invalid. This means the fight doesn’t stop at hitting the one-million mark. People must continue to push and make their voices heard by signing and spreading awareness.

However, it’s also important to remember that you must be a citizen of the European Union to sign the petition, so if you think you’re helping in the US by signing, that isn’t the case. However, spreading the word is perfectly acceptable. Some of the biggest names in content creation/gaming, such as PewDiePie, have spoken up in support of the cause.

The deadline for people who wish to sign the Stop Killing Games petition is July 31, 2025, so there’s still plenty of time for people to do their part. But what could possibly happen as a result of this? Unfortunately, the sad possibility is that “nothing” could be the answer. The European Commission could see this as pointless, and nothing could be done.

Ideally, a law would be made that would force game studios to support the preservation of their online titles rather than abandoning them and stopping players from enjoying them in the future. It’s so frustrating to watch a game you’ve played for years simply vanish because the developers no longer wish to support it.

This doesn't just affect online titles, though; it affects every video game that ceases production. Anytime a handheld console like the 3DS closes its digital shop, the price of the physical games becomes untenable for the average gamer. The hope is that by passing legislation, things like this could be a thing of the past.

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Nobody is saying that game developers should have to host servers forever, either. Players could run fan communities/private servers/public servers to keep these titles accessible, and that's what Stop Killing Games aims to do.

Putting titles in the hands of the community instead of simply letting them go to waste would be better for gamers everywhere, and it could see real change happen globally in how we preserve video games. We will simply have to wait and see what happens next, but we’re hopeful that it will be a positive for game preservation.